Alexandro Bernabei produces beaming Celtic smile from Brendan Rodgers as boss in confession over madcap winner

Grinning Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers applauded Alexandro Bernabei for turning a bad pass into the decisive goal against Gamba Osaka.

Bernabei proved to be an unlikely Celtic hero in the final clash of the Scottish Premiership champions pre-season tour of Japan as he robbed goalkeeper Kosei Tani of the ball before slotting it into an empty net - after his wayward pass found it's way to the Osaka number one with just five minutes left on the clock. The Parkhead boss was beaming in the wake of his side's sign off in The Land of the Rising Sun which combined first half domination with a rugged second half effort.

But he conceded he was surprised by the winner - conceding it was a "bad pass" turned into key striker by the persistence of the Argentinian full back. Asked about the goal on Celtic TV, Rodgers said: "Well, it's great that you can make a pass like that and it be so bad, but it ends up in a goal.

"But no, give massive credit to him. He played a great ball in Portugal with the outside of his foot, and we end up getting a goal from it. He has tried a similar thing on the opposite side and I think he kicked the ground, but he didn't overanalyse it.

"I always say you played the last pass, and the last pass wasn't so good, but he kept going and pressed the keeper, and gets his reward for that. It was a nice way to get it, and nice for the supporter to feel a goal in the stadium."

Rodgers was also delighted with the effort shown by his side during the final game in the Middle East - before they fly into Dublin to face Wolves. He added: "I really enjoyed the exercise again. First half we played some really good football and the home keeper made some fantastic saves.

"We worked the ball really well at times and we